Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 4 June 2024.
Darren Millar
Conservative
2:13,
4 June 2024
First Minister, under Labour, the NHS in north Wales is on its knees: the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been in and out of special measures since 2015; there's been a failure to deliver improvements, which has resulted in patients coming to harm; patients are waiting longer than in other parts of the UK for operations and treatments; and we all know that the Glan Clwyd Hospital, which serves the people of Conwy and Denbighshire, has the worst emergency department performance in the country, with one in four people waiting 12 hours or more in A&E. It's totally unacceptable.
Now, in a bid to address some of these issues, 11 years ago, the Welsh Government promised to build a brand-new hospital in Rhyl to serve the coastal strip, improve access to NHS services and alleviate the pressure on Glan Clwyd. It should have been open in 2016, but we're yet to see a spade in the ground, First Minister, and yet, since then, since 2013, you've opened a brand-new hospital in south Wales. Why is north Wales always playing second fiddle to south Wales under your Government? And when will people in Conwy and Denbighshire get this vital facility that patients need?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.